The Creek

Swimming in Jennings Pond is fun. Have you ever thought about where the water goes? Well, the water goes to Buttermilk Creek.

Then, lots of tributaries come into this main creek. Upstream damming and agricultural has an impact on the water. To maintain the beauty of Buttermilk Falls State Park, we have to be careful of the environment upstream. Inside the park, the creek drops through 10 different waterfalls, a total of 650 feet. The water underneath you goes to the Cayuga Lake inlet and eventually goes to the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Great Lakes. But this takes about 25 years!

The creek is muddy and rocky. Why does it look like this? Powerful flood water moves the rocks. The large rocks settle at the delta, but the sand and small rocks goes on to make sandbars, deltas, or beaches.